A Mustard Seed As A Physician Assistant

As a recent graduate of the Johns Hopkins University and a new Research Technician at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, becoming more familiar with different healthcare settings and helping others in doing so have always been of my interest. From my experience of volunteering as a piano teacher for inner-city children in Baltimore, I have learnt that even a small commitment and emotional support can make a big difference in the daily lives and the happiness of those in need. I have briefly familiarized myself to the hospital environment by shadowing physicians and conducting biomedical research but have yet to translate my volunteering experiences and the lessons learnt from them to the healthcare setting. I am a friendly, optimistic,

Over the last few weeks, I have had the opportunity to experience some of the best and most difficult times of being a medical assistant. I have had hands on experience with patients of all different ages, races, religions, and personalities. These last few weeks have not only taught me patience, acceptance and boundaries of others, but I was able to learn more about myself as well. My externship experience has opened my eyes to the realities of maintaining a healthy lifestyle, physically and mentally, as well as the importance of family and friends. DePaul Medical Center and In Faith Psychological Services were the best locations I could have chosen for my first look into the life of a medical assistant.

At a very early age I felt called to heal people, and the calling has not changed. That same calling became intensified when I was ten years old, I was brought to Emory Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta where I was diagnosed with type one diabetes. Over the course of a week, I was taught how to live a new way of life with my diagnosis. People have the tendency to feel sympathetic or sorry towards a teenage girl living with an incurable autoimmune disease; however, from the moment I was diagnosed I knew God was going to use it to shape my future as a way to glorify him. Over the course of a week, it was inherently noticeable that the professionals spending time with the patients were the nurses on the floor, not the physicians or the physician’s

It is a warm summer evening at Grady Hospital. It is my first day as an emergency room volunteer. I’m nervous and eager, hoping to see something exciting. However, it is surreally quiet. Suddenly, there is word of an ambulance en route. Minutes later the paramedics burst into the trauma slot pushing a man on a stretcher. His head and face are covered with gauze that is soaked through with dark blood. It is a flurry of well-orchestrated movement as the attendings and residents start to resuscitate him. They pull back the bandages to reveal a deep gash that is bleeding profusely. With much effort his vital signs are stabilized and he begins to regain consciousness. Later, after the excitement had passed, I learned what brought him here. He is diabetic and couldn’t afford to properly manage his condition. He had fainted due to hypoglycemia and hit his head. He had almost lost his life because of the unfortunate financial realities of modern healthcare. In that moment, I came to appreciate the very real cost of disease and the incredible role physicians have in ameliorating it. This formative experience was the beginning of my path to medicine.

When I first began my college career in 2011, I was a first generation college student. I entered into college with only a vague goal of becoming a Physician’s Assistant. The most common question I was asked was why? Why a Physicians Assistant? And I my answer was always the simple standard answer of: “I want to help people”. I, undeniably, still want to help others but it was not until the Christmas of my sophomore year, that I truly understood what it meant and took to be a successful Physician’s Assistant. A few days after Christmas my mother was hospitalized for two and a half weeks with a continuous blood clot in her leg and a small blood clot in her lungs. She spent the first 3 days in ICU, required multiple blood and iron transfusions, and eventually surgery. For me, the worst part of the entire experience was being awakened in the middle of the night by nothing more than the faint whisper of my name. Till this day, I don’t know how I heard it. My mom had collapsed on the stairs in excruciating pain. She was extremely weak and unable to move. I thought I was watching my mother die, and the immediate fear and panic that I felt, still haunts me sometimes. I didn’t know what to do or what was

After my first year at Skyline College, I ventured out to find ways I can volunteer in my community, in hopes to find interest in a field I would like to study one day. When I first started volunteering at Mills Peninsula Hospital, I thought it would be like those medical drama shows such as House, or Grey's Anatomy. Where I would meet the real life versions of Dr. House and Meredith Grey and get to be shadowed by them and learn the ins and outs of hospital and the secrets of medicine. However, when I first stepped into Mills Peninsula, I knew meeting Dr. House and Meredith Grey were very unlikely. Right when I entered the hospital I see the rushes of turquoise colored scrubs passing by me, hearing the clanks of the walking sticks from the elderly, and often times the squeaks from the wheels of the wheelchair. Yet, through these passing moments, there was always that lingering of emotions evoked in the air; moments passing between a mother and her newborn baby, the anxious faces of families pacing back and forth, and the

I am passionate about both education and the practical services it can be used for. My goal was formed as I gained understanding in both the classroom and clinical setting watching skilled physicians serve the community they cared deeply about. As a physician assistant, I firmly believe that it is all about serving and bettering the community. As a part of the medical community, I will dedicate myself to doing what is best for others. This first starts by admitting I do not know everything which is why I so deeply value continual education Secondly I believe in approaching all scenarios humbly. Everyday provides an opportunity to learn, grow and gain a greater understanding of the needs of the community. Without continual growth, there is little difference made in society. I see the physician assistant as a needed asset in today’s high demand for medical

Jostling about in the hot, noisy Tuk Tuk, with every rut in the road, I wondered why I had signed up for this. Medical mission trips are organized to help people who lack access to medical care, but, honestly, for all the complications, I think these trips benefited me more by helping me know myself better. Growing up, people labeled me as shy and quiet and maybe I was, but it was only because I never really quite fit in with my peers. The first time I felt that I belonged and had a purpose was on my first mission trip to Peru. It felt good helping all those wide-eyed, hopeful children and to finally be surrounded by people who were just like me – we worked as a team with a common goal to help those communities desperately needing healthcare. I discovered a joy in helping others I still feel today, which has inspired me to pursue a career as a Physician’s Assistant (PA).

During my high school journey, I have cumulatively volunteered and interned in the Catawba Valley Medical Center Maternity Ward ​over 300 hours. While interning, I was able to not only observe patient interactions, but also experience what it would be like to work in such a field. By the end of my personalized interning experience I was performing

Since I plan on becoming a nurse practitioner, connecting with other students who are striving toward serving God while working in the medical field, will allow me to learn from them. At this point I am most interested in working at a primary care doctor’s office. I really enjoy having conversations with adults and want to work in a context where I can help them understand the tests that they are undergoing for a normal check-up or when they are ill. I feel that I am gifted in talking with and comforting people. These gifts are very useful in the career of nursing and I want to use them to the best of my ability as I care for patients. I want to help patients and their families understand what diseases or ailments they are experiencing and how the doctor wants to treat it. I want to try to get to know the patients on a personal level and show them God’s love through the way that I interact with

The biweekly Saturday free clinic was full and overflowing the first time my best friend brought me to the Student for Health organization’s community health clinic. For the next two years, I was ‘hooked on’ the organization’s volunteer health services. It was always exciting to come and help with the health screening services. We screened mostly for chronic conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity. I was always curious to know the fate of patients referred to major hospitals by our medical director: Did they make a full recovery? Was there anything more we could have done to help them get better? It was this drive to be better informed, better positioned to offer help to those in dire circumstances that spurred my interest

This is what has led me to realize that a career as a Physician Assistant is indeed the career for me. As an undergraduate, my passion for helping others and immersing myself in medicine kept me a devoted volunteer at a student-run clinic called Clinica Tepati. At Clinica Tepati, I worked to provide primary care for underserved communities and I learned aspects of health care one can not learn in the classroom. I loved the approach my clinic instilled in me: education is one of the most crucial aspects of medicine and helping our patients.

Most people avoid hospitals at all costs, but I enjoy hospitals and find inspiration in what they accomplish on a daily basis. People commonly associate hospitals with negative experiences and disregard the number of miracles that occur there. Every day, doctors and nurses work hard to save lives, improve lives, and bring new lives into the world. Volunteering and job shadowing at two hospitals has given me a glimpse at just how hard these professionals work to improve the lives of complete strangers.

What this story says about people is that God will use people suffering to teach about faith and to glorify God. Sometime, he uses it for us, and sometimes he uses it for other people. This story teaches that people should never question God about why they are suffering, instead ask God to give us a clearer perspective on what is happening. Once people are healed they should be a testimony to others, and not be afraid to share it.

Throughout the years I feel that I’ve had a number of valuable experiences, but none that have changed me as much as my experience volunteering at Children’s Hospital Colorado. I still vividly remember my first walking past the sliding glass doors of the pristine hospital on my very first day volunteering during the summer of 2012.